How to Recruit Your Dream Team
8 May 2024
Tips for recruiting and hiring, beyond the basics
We all know it's hard to recruit good workers, especially in the Trades where there just aren't enough qualified techs to go around. Here are some tips to help you build your "dream team" of employees through the recruiting process.
- First of all, make sure your company is a place people want to work. Check your compensation plans, benefits packages, PTO, and company culture to make sure your business is attractive. Even if you can't be highly competitive with benefits (and if you can't, ask yourself why not?), at least do enough so you don't stand out as far worse than your competitors.
- Use traditional recruiting tactics. This includes online job boards and social media. There are challenges to these tactics, including the fact that all the other companies are advertising in the same places, and many of the "best" candidates aren't actively looking for a new job at all. But you still want to be visible in the common places as a place to start. Share these job posts on your company social media page and through your network.
- Maximize exposure on social media. Outside of recruiting, take part in community groups so when you share a job opening it goes to people who already know and trust you. Share posts from personal accounts, not just the company page. And post photos of your actual employees, representing the brand - not just stock photos of cheesy-looking fake employees (such as the obviously contrived photo at the top of this blog post...). Show the world that you're authentic. As a bonus, when you post positive things about the company unrelated to recruiting efforts it gives you exposure to lots of people, including potential applicants who aren't actively looking for jobs, the families and friends of these applicants, and even potential customers!
- Hire a professional recruiter. While not always necessary, outsourcing to an expert is a way to go beyond what you can do in-house. Contact The Big Picture Consulting for recommendations on trustworthy and effective recruiting companies.
Remember that the goal isn't only to get the applicants' attention, but to convince them to choose you over your competitors, and to retain them over time. Funny how it sounds a lot like the marketing, sales, and retention efforts you'd use with customers, right? When you think of employees as "internal customers" during the process of recruiting, hiring, onboarding, and ongoing work, you're more likely to be successful long-term.
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